Read this whole article to get to the warning at the end from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA says no Chinese formula has been approved for import, but be aware that “…limited quantities might have found their way into some ethnic grocery stores.”Here’s the article from the New York Times:China Investigates Tainted Baby Formula
HONG KONG — China began a nationwide inquiry into the safety of all infant formulas on Friday as investigators from six government agencies descended on a milk powder factory that produced formula linked to the death of one baby and kidney problems in at least 50 more.
The producer of the contaminated formula, the Sanlu Group, recalled 700 tons after determining on Thursday that it contained melamine, an industrial chemical, according to the official China Daily newspaper.
The discovery is a setback for the country’s efforts to reassure its own citizens and overseas buyers that the “made in China” label is trustworthy after a series of incidents involving everything from toxic toy beads to poisonous cough medicine.
Contamination with melamine is especially embarrassing. Pet food that included ingredients made in China laced with melamine sickened thousands of pets and killed an unknown number last year in the United States, and the Chinese government promised at the time that it would prevent melamine from entering food products for people.
For people in China, the death of a baby from tainted infant formula recalls a scandal four years in which 13 infants died after drinking substandard formula produced by counterfeiters under the Sanlu brand.
China’s Health Ministry promised “serious punishment” on Friday for those found responsible for the presence of melamine in the formula. The majority of the babies who have fallen sick had definitely consumed the Sanlu formula, the ministry said in a statement on its Web site.
Top Chinese doctors have been asked to perform urgent research into treatment for babies suffering kidney stones and kidney failure after drinking the formula, the ministry said. Doctors across the country were ordered to report any further cases of babies with kidney difficulties.
China also reported the problem to the World Health Organization, in an attempt to improve its reputation for transparency in health issues. China hid the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, for four months in late 2002 and early 2003, drawing international criticism when the disease spread to Hong Kong and then around the world.
An ingredient of plastics and fertilizers, melamine is sometimes added by dishonest merchants to animal feed in China, so that when it is tested, it registers more protein than it actually has.
Sanlu ordered its recall and promised its own investigation after determining that batches of its formula manufactured before Aug. 6 had been contaminated.
Sanlu officials did not answer calls to the company’s headquarters in Shijiazhuang, in Hebei Province. It was not clear what production changes were made on Aug. 6 that prompted the company to conclude that formula produced after that date was safe.
There have been reports of babies developing kidney stones and kidney failure in at least seven provinces. A cluster of cases in Gansu Province in western China triggered the recall.
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration said that no infant formula from China has been approved for import. But the F.D.A. advised consumers to be cautious because limited quantities might have found their way into some ethnic grocery stores.